Roses and Oud: Kilian Rose Oud and Dior Oud Ispahan

I sampled both Kilian Rose Oud and Oud Ispahan the other day, and boy, for two scents both featuring rose and oud, these couldn't be more different.

Kilian Rose Oud: A scent that highlights rose rather than oud, this is a sweet, lush, and juicy rose, with a bit of fruit and wine thrown in for good measure. The oud is very subtle, adding a bit of depth and an edge to the scent as it dries down.

Overall, it's a beautiful rose scent, even though I don't get much oud. I think this is a rose/oud fragrance similar in style to Bond New York Oud, as I get a similar feel from both. The Kilian is elegant and sultry compared to the Bond's fun, flirty and gregarious personality.

Dior Oud Ispahan: This is a dry, dark, thick and smoky fragrance. It features the oud much more prominently than rose (on my skin). The oud is of the smoking oud chips variety, like the accord in Dior Leather Oud. The rose scent is that of dark, desiccated rose petals.

I actually have trouble smelling any rose after 30 minutes, as I get mostly a dry, dark patchouli and a thick, animalic, smoky oud.

(Let me also compare Oud Ispahan to Leather Oud, which I also sampled. These seem incredibly similar to me, although I think it's because my skin amps up the smoky oud in these scents. Both have a thick, rich texture and smell heavily of animalic smoke. The Oud Ispahan is dusty/powdery, faintly floral and slightly sour compared to Leather Oud, which is smoother, richer and warmed by leather. I prefer Leather Oud of these two.)

If I smelled the Kilian and Dior blind, I would not guess that both scents feature the same two highlighted notes.

Personally, I prefer Kilian Rose Oud. The Oud Ispahan just didn't capture me. As it dried down, the smoky oud really began to sour, and Oud Ispahan began to smell like urine on my skin. I much prefer Leather Oud for my smoky oud fix, or Portrait of a Lady for my complex, rich and bold smoked rose.

What do you think of these? For anyone that's tried both, which do you prefer?

What other scents share highlight notes but strike you as vastly different?

Re: Roses and Oud: Kilian Rose Oud and Dior Oud Ispahan

Rose Oud really has very little to no oud in it, it's a very poor name for the juice. It's really a Rose Saffron fragrance more than anything. And for the $400 price tag, that's outrageous. Oud Ispahan is tough juice to wear. Projection and longevity are enormous, and it's very much an oud-dominant fragrance. Dior's oud is very in your face, you were right, it's very smoky and heavy. You're right about the similarities between this and LO. Take the leather out, replace it with some rose, and you've got OI.

I have objections to both, and don't find them to be the best rose-oud combos out there, Kilian's primarily with the price and overall lack of real oud, Dior's being too in your face, but the price is also unbeatable. If I had to choose a rose-oud combo, I'd still stick with Black Aoud or NY Amber.

Re: Roses and Oud: Kilian Rose Oud and Dior Oud Ispahan

Ahh haha... no. I'm just going by what others have said about Leather Oud having a "burned oud chip" smell. Oud Ispahan has a very similar smoky oud accord to my nose.

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Originally Posted by fitch256

If I had to choose a rose-oud combo, I'd still stick with Black Aoud or NY Amber.

Do you find NY Amber to be a better rose/oud combo than Bond NY Oud?

People knock Kilian for the price (which I agree is very high), but I commend them for offering refill bottles for much less. Unfortunately, even the refills are pricey devils for the Arabian Nights collection.

As a rose scent, I find Rose Oud very beautiful. There's just enough oud to make the fragrance interesting. I guess the main problem is that it's priced with oud in mind, and there are many cheaper alternatives if you're just interested in rose. I have yet to find a rose quite like it, though.

Hedonist, what do you think of the oud in Kilian Rose Oud - is it too light, or do you find it nicely balanced? I think you're more familiar with real oud than most.

Re: Roses and Oud: Kilian Rose Oud and Dior Oud Ispahan

I actually recall the Kilian being plentiful of oud Hobbes. I'll smell it again the next time I'm by a boutique but fairy certain the oud was prominent. I'll confirm after smelling again.
I actually quite liked them both. The rise being very very lush in the Kilian and austere in the Dior.
Both should be a staple in the oud-rose connoisseur's wardrobe. Given this, I wasn't too fond of the armani rose oud I found the oud used to be a bit too sweet. Dare I say synthetic also?

Re: Roses and Oud: Kilian Rose Oud and Dior Oud Ispahan

I love Rose Oud, but I lean on the side of it only being very mildly oud-y at the best of times. My first sample left me totally underwhelmed as I really wanted a good-quality oud comparable to Pure Oud.

Then, my opinion went 360 as I got bored of one-note ouds, and grew to love Rose Oud as a really gorgeous rose soliflore. It's a really fantastic scent but the secondary note I get is a kind of pulpy berry with oud as distant player ( almost more like cocoa to my nose ).

Re: Roses and Oud: Kilian Rose Oud and Dior Oud Ispahan

I enjoy both of these scents a lot. The first time I sampled Rose Oud, I was bowled over by how beautiful it was. The berry notes that complement the rose are fantastic. My only complaint is that I get poor longevity and projection from it.

I don't get a similar vibe from Rose Oud and New York Oud, though. To me, Rose Oud is much more demure. And I get a lot of oud from New York Oud, not so much from Rose Oud.

Re: Roses and Oud: Kilian Rose Oud and Dior Oud Ispahan

I think I shall use this thread as an excuse to sample Rose Oud today, as I do have a vial of it; I will report back in some hours' time. The only of Killian's oud fragrances that I have tried so far is Pure Oud, of which I thought the first 12 hours rather monolithic, but the subtle residuum that endured past that very pleasant indeed. A superb base, whatever it is.

Re: Roses and Oud: Kilian Rose Oud and Dior Oud Ispahan

Merely, let us know what you think after testing Rose Oud. I have yet to try Pure Oud, so perhaps I should test that one while you test Rose Oud...

Hedonist, I haven't tried the Armani rose oud, but I think someone (Redneck?) said it smells similar to TF Noir de Noir. The Armani line is hard to try out other than buying a sample from TPC or StC, unfortunately. Let us know if your impressions are different if you get to try it again.

Sugandaraja, I've also grown to enjoy Rose Oud more and more as I've worn it. I think it's one of those scents that really benefits from repeated wearings.

L'Incandescent, Rose Oud is indeed more demure than NY Oud, which also sports a more obvious oud note. I guess they give me a similar feel in comparison to Rose Oud and Oud Ispahan, which are so different. The rose is both fruity and lush in both the Kilian and the Bond. So, they don't smell the same, but the style of rose feels related.

I get pretty good longevity and great projection from Rose Oud. I find Oud Ispahan to wear closer to the skin.

Re: Roses and Oud: Kilian Rose Oud and Dior Oud Ispahan

I did not much enjoy Rose Oud much. This is chiefly because of the berries used to offset the rose; the intersection of these and other ingredients produces an accord I can only describe as opaque and (this is not quite the right word) soapy. It has a three-dimensional quality more common with animalics, but also the vagueness that can be intuited in Monsieur de Givenchy, if that makes any sense. It is innocent - even innocuous. Although I am hardly burdened with vice, I did not feel quite innocent enough to wear it. I noticed after writing this that Hobbes22 and Incandescent used the word 'demure'. Yes, I would agree.

Let me first note my bias: I don't like fruity fragrances, and this rose is not lush, but fruity. I found myself thinking of raspberry sherbet. I thought I sensed a mote of oud, but it is so very little, and cannot really break free of the rose/berry accord that comprise most of the composition. I am not very familiar with saffron, so I can't comment on that frequent observation above. It is possible - I am hardly an oud connoisseur, having merely burned some of the very low-grade wood that one sometimes finds inexpensively in Ethiopian shops - that some of what I dimly registered as oud is just an accord involving saffron.

The longevity and especially the sillage are good, but that is to be expected with Kilian's fragrances. One or two drops will fill a room with its scent; fragrances of such strength don't really belong in atomisers. Applying a sort of half-spray, or one full spray under clothing, might be prudent.

Personally, I thought Pure Oud much better. Here, the fruits muddy the clean presentation that would have let one appreciate the quality of the rose absolute; and the oud is interred beneath the same. I wonder whether Kilian was trying for an oud-impression caused by the intersection of rose, berries and saffron? For what I called 'soapy' does have a slightly woody air to it. An interesting point: I found that I could not wash Pure Oud off my skin. It lasted for two days thereon, faintly, with the scent getting better with time. I had used both alcohol and soap to no avail. Rose Oud slipped off easily. Perhaps synthetic oud is tenacious? I would prefer something more sparse in this vein, letting me appreciate the rose clearly, but that's just me.